Goldman Sachs names its new Canada head

By Bill Mann

Jack Curtin, CEO of Goldman Sachs Canada from 1995 to 2000, is getting his old job back, the firm has announced. The Toronto native joined the firm in 1976.

He replaces Tim Hodgson, who’s joining the Bank of Canada as a Special Advisor to Governor Mark Carney. Curtin starts his duties on July 1, Canada Day, according to a Goldman Sachs memo obtained by the Toronto Globe and Mail and confirmed by Goldman.

Curtin has worked both on Goldman’s securities side and on the investment-banking side. As CEO, he was involved in Bank of Montreal’s proposed — but failed — merger with Royal Bank of Canada. The Canadian government rebuffed all bank mergers.

Hodgson replaces Mark Caplan at the national bank, and will handle both communications and helping Gov. Carney push such changes as initiatives to move more derivatives trading into standardized form.

Canadian banks are expected to fight proposed changes in highly profitable markets like the OTC derivatives business.